Head-board for grain-binders



(No Model.)

J. MACPHAIL. HEAD BOARD FOR GRAIN BINDERS.

No. 567,148. Patented Sept. 8, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

JAMES MAOPI-IAIL, OF BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PLANO-MANUFAOTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HEAD-BOARD FOR GRAIN-BINDERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent no. 567,148, datedSeptember 8, 1896. Application filed May 14, 1894. Serial No. 511,137.(No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES MAOPI-IAIL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Blue Island, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in IIead-Boards forGrain- Binders, which are fully set forth in the followingspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the rear end of agrain-binder and elevatorframe embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a frontside elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 a detail perspective view showingthe means for attaching the head-board to the binderframe.

Inthe drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 are upon one scale, and Fig. 3 is uponanother and enlarged scale.

My invention relates to the device generally known as a head-board,which is usually hinged or pivoted to some suitable support at the rearof the machine for the purpose of guiding and adjusting the heads of thegrain as the latter is delivered from the elevator to the binder. Thesehead-boards are designed for use with adjustable grainbinders, that is,binders which are movable toward the front or rear of the machine tosuit different lengths of grain, and it is intended that the head-boardshall turn on its pivot with this sliding movement of the grain-binder,so as to operate as required with different lengths of grain.

The invention consists in pivoting or hinging the head-board to thebinder at a point somewhere between the respective ends of the board, inconnection with a spring oper-.

is no necessity for showing and describing a full machine, and I haveshown only such parts of a grain-binding harvester as are necessary foran understanding of the construction and operation of my improvement andshall confine the description to these parts.

In the drawings, A represents a portion of the upright frame, and B theelevator-frame, constructed and arranged in the usual way. Thegrain-binder O is also of ordinary construction in all its generalfeatures and is mounted in any suitable way to permit a sliding movementtoward the front or rear of the machine' The construction indicated inthe drawings is one wellknown, in which the binder-frame is secured to atubular bar 0, arranged transversely of the binder-frame and mounted onsupports on which it is free to slide. The incline c of the binder isusually secured to this tubular bar, so as tomove with it, and the grainis delivered by the elevator to the upper edge of the incline in thewell-known way. The binder is provided with a butt-adjuster-orbutt-board D, mount ed adjustably at the front end of the binder for theusual purpose. It is usual in grainbinders to also provide a device foradjusting the heads of the grain at the rear end of the binder. Thisdevice is generally known as the head-board, and obviously it must beadjusted to correspond with. the arrangement of the binder, so as toperform its function upon grain of different lengths. In the presentimprovement this head-board E is pivotally connected to the incline ofthe binder at a point between the ends of the head-board, both of theseends being left free and disconnected from any other part. This mountingof the head-board upon the binder may be effected in various ways. Asshown in the drawings, the connecting device consists of a kind ofbracket E, which is provided with a fiat foot f, by which it is boltedor otherwise secured to the upper side of the incline, as seen in Fig.3. this flat foot, and a suitable bearing-bracket Gis secured to oneside of the head-board, in thisinstance the outside, being constructedwith a suitable bearing g at one end, adapted to receive the stud orpost f, and the bear- A stud or post f rises from ing passing down overthis post becomes journaled thereon, thus providing for the vibration ofthe head-board on this journal as a pivot. The bearing-bracket G in thedrawings is shown provided with a long arm g, extending from the bearingg upward along the side of the head-board and thereby furnishing meansfor securing the bracket to this board by bolts passing through thisextension. This bearing-bracket is secured'to the head-board between thetwo ends of the latter, but preferably nearer to the upper than thelower end, as seen in the drawings.

The length of the head-board and the position of its pivotal supportwith reference to the elevator-frame are such that when the board ismounted in place its upper end will pass just a little beyond the rearside piece I) of the elevator-frame, as seen in Fig. 1. The journal-postf is considerably longer than the journal-bearing g, so that when thelatter is applied thereto, as described above, the post will extendconsiderably above the bearing, and to this projecting portion of thepost an actuating-spring ll is applied, this spring, as seen in thedrawings, being a coil surrounding the post, with its lower endconnected to the bearing and its upper end to the post, as seen in Fig.3, and held thereto by means of a pin h. The arrangement of this springwith reference to the bearingbracket and other parts mentioned above issuch that its normal action is to turn the upper end of the head-boardinward, which, of course, will throw the opposite end of the said boardoutward. The spring therefore act-s normally to hold the upper end ofthe head-board against and in contact with the side piece I) of theelevator-frame, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, and the relation is such thatthe spring will act to effect this result at the very limit of therearward adjustment of the binder; but, as already stated, thehead-board is entirely disconnected from the binderframe or any otherpart of the machine, except by its journal attachment, alreadydescribed, and therefore it is perfectly free to turn on its journal ineither direction. Obviously upon moving the binder forward the upper endof the head-board will be turned outward by reason of its free contactwith the elevator-frame, already described, which motion will, ofcourse, throw the lower end of the said board inward, theactuating-spring yielding sufficiently to permit this motion. lVhen,therefore, the binder is adjusted to suit shorter grain, the head-boardis come spondingly adjusted by the inward throw of its lower end, asjust stated above. Upon a movement of the binder to the rear again, thespring, the tension of which has been increased by the former adjustmentjust described, will, of course, act to turn this board in the oppositedirection, the movement being guided and controlled by theelevator-fra1ne, with which the spring keeps the upper end of thehead-board in constant contact. This action of the spring, of course,turns the lower end of the head-board outward, thus adjusting it tograin of greater length, as required, and as indicated in dotted linesin Fig. 2.

The head-board may be made of any suitable material, in all casescomparatively thin and light, however. I prefer to make it of thin metalsui'iiciently elastic to yield somewhat and thin enough to yield to acomparatively light force along the portion below the journalattachment, that is, at the lower or outer end of the board. This is toprovide for a limited yielding of the lower end of the head-boardindependently of any movement of the upper end, so that it will giveslightly to the pressure even of the heads of grain as the latter passdown the incline, as indicated in Fig. 2. This accommodates to areas0nable extent the slight variations in the lengths of grain whichoccur, whatever the adjust ment of the binder may be; but it is not anabsolutely essential feature of the invention.

Means for adjusting the binder bodily, as described, are so well knownthat there is no necessity of any particular description here. It issufficient to say that, for the purpose of showing working mechanism ofsome kind, I

have illustrated a device for this purpose in Fig. 1, consisting of ashaft I at the rear of the elevator, having a crank-arm i at its lowerend, which is connected byalink-rod vi with the binder, and a handle 7?at its upper end. The swinging of the handle will, of course, oscillatethe shaft, which will correspondingly move the binder. A notched sectorJmaybe fixed at the upper end of the shaft, adapted to engage the handleto set any adjustment made.

As described above and shown in the drawings, the journal or pivot ofthe head-board is directly 011 the incline of the binder; but this isonly a matter of judgment and convenience, as this pivotal support maybe fixed on some other part of the binder-frame, provided thearrangement is such as to bring the parts into relation with each other,as described above.

It will be noticed, as already suggested above, that the head-board hasno positive connection whatever with any part of the machine except thebinder, and it will also be noted that it is secured to the latter sothat it can be easily and quickly removed. All that is required is toremove the fastening-pin from the j ournal-post, when the head-board andspring may be slipped off from the post and so completely detached fromthe machine. This provides for the attachment and detachment of thehead-board without any diffioulty and without disturbing any other partof the machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a grain-binding harvester, an elevator- 5 frame, in combination witha grain-binder adjustable transversely thereof, a head-board,

E, of thin elastic metal to yield easily at its lower end, a pivotdevice connecting the said board to the grain-binder, and anactuatingspring adapted to hold the upper end of the 10 said board incontact With the elevator-frame, substantially as described.

JAMES MAOPHAIL. Witnesses:

LE OTIE LEIB, ALLAN A. MURRAY.

